


First Meeting

by Jess_S



Series: Mathematics & Magic [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Numb3rs
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-10-25
Updated: 2009-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-14 06:18:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13584060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jess_S/pseuds/Jess_S
Summary: While struggling to ignore her destiny and forget the tragedies that resulted from it, Buffy is drawn to save an innocent and makes a new friend in the process. And Charlie learns that there's more to the world than he'd ever imagined.





	1. A Late Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> This series is actually posted through Part 3 on Twisting the Hellmouth, but I thought I'd bring it over here, too. See if that might help me start working on it again... *fingers crossed*  
> Numb3rs was still running when I first posted it, but alas it's time has passed, but I still think this series could be fun. So hopefully my muses will want to play with it again...

**First Meeting **

**_Part I in Mathematics & Magic_ **

By Jess S

**_Prologue: A Late Rescue_ **

**_Pasadena, California – Monday, June 3, 1996_ **

_Charlie's P.O.V._

Charlie frowned as he looked out at the three pre-teenage girls that were hovering anxiously outside on the doorstep. A part of him was greatly against helping the three, but he couldn’t for the life of him imagine why. After another moment’s hesitation, Charlie gave into their wide, desperate eyes and sighed, shaking his head and – wanting more than anything to get back to the math problem he’d been working on when the doorbell rang – he waved them in, “Yeah, I guess you can use the phone. Come in, it’s right through here,” he told them, turning to lead the way into the kitchen.

Not a full second later he was bowled over with a force like that of a freight train, blown clean off his feet and headfirst into the floor as deceptively slender arms warped around his neck and dragged him further into the house, over to the stairs.

“Hungry, are we, Clair?” he heard one of the girls asked with a laugh. Her voice was different from before though, deeper... it almost sounded like she actually growled the words.

“May I, Sire?” he heard the girl that was easily pinning him to the floor ask, her voice also changed to that deep, growling tone.

Charlie struggled, but the girl’s grip was unbreakable, brutally bruising and devastating in her unbelievable strength. He managed to tilt his head back enough to look at the other two girls and was more than a little horrified at what he saw.

Gone were the somewhat pretty faces of two young teenagers with long, platinum blonde hair and wide, worried blue eyes. Now their eyes were a dark, orange-yellow color; both eager and blank; wild, like an animal’s, and set under formerly smooth foreheads that had become strangely ridged. Their lip gloss covered lips had pulled back to reveal pointed teeth that were currently set in wicked, zealous grins as both girls let out harsh, grating laughs.

“Enjoy,” the first girl replied with a smirk to Clair’s question before joining the other...creature in looking around the room, slipping some of the nearby valuables into the bag that hung from their shoulders.

One of Clair’s arms moved slightly higher but the one that remained about his chest and shoulders still held him firmly in place with ease as she just as easily forced him to tilt his head back and slightly to the side and started to place quick kisses along his neck, almost as though she was searching for something.

Not knowing what was making a surge of desperate fear rush through his system, but reacting to it nonetheless, Charlie choked out, “Please, don’—”

But he was cut off by his own shout of agony as she apparently found the spot she wanted and bit down hard, sending an excruciatingly sharp burst of pain through his body that continued to throb as she started to suck greedily at his throat, rapidly sucking his lifeblood out of his veins.

Each jerky motion he made to try to escape was easily overpowered by the smaller figure’s slight grip and sent waves of agony crashing through his body even as his strength rapidly waned and his vision started to darken...

* * *

_Buffy's P.O.V._

Buffy sighed as she made her way through the dark streets. She’d gotten off her shift at the diner just a little while ago, around midnight. But she couldn’t sleep. _Again_. Much as she wanted to escape Slayerhood, it was well and truly a part of her now; a part that _wouldn’t_ be ignored. So here she was, wandering around after one o’clock in the morning. She wasn’t sure what her Slayer senses were drawing her to. She wasn’t even in the real city anymore. She’d entered the suburban district of ‘ _Pasadena_ ’ – according to the welcoming sign – several minutes ago.

As she turned onto another residential street her eyes sharpened in response to the familiar surge of adrenaline her slay-sense sent through her system while her ears – also suddenly hyper-sensitive – picked up sounds of a struggle not too far down the street.

With another sigh she took off towards the problem, easily closing the distance to the house the noise was coming from in just a few seconds.

There were three vamps there, two of them very young fledglings and the third their not much older Sire. None of them noticed her arrival, as one of the fledglings and the Sire were too focused on rummaging through the living room while the other fledgling fed on the teenage boy that lived there, having apparently given the three an invite into his home. To be fair, not knowing the three were vampires, the boy probably couldn’t have imagined that he’d have anything to fear from the three girls that all looked younger than him and were dressed up as cheerleaders to boot!

Taking note of the host’s rapidly paling skin and weakening struggles, Buffy didn’t even stop to snark at the three undead blondes, instead coming up behind the Sire to quickly stake her from behind and throwing her stake towards the other fledgling as she spun towards them into and into the stake that then pierced her heart. Half a dozen rapid steps brought her over to yank the other vamp away from her victim as she looked up, and a startled expression was permanently fixed on her face as her form crumbled to dust. All was silent for a moment as Buffy paused to let her senses scan the area before deciding it was self to kneel down and check on the victim.

He was on the floor, leaning against the wall by the front door, his breathing labored and his eyes wide with shock. At a quick glance Buffy could see bruises forming along his arms, a slightly bloody bump rising off his forehead and the collar of his red t-shirt darkening from the blood that was still seeping down his neck, through the fingers he’d instinctively pressed up against his neck wound.

“Hey, buddy,” Buffy murmured softly as she knelt down next to him, a concerned expression fixed on her face as she asked, “What’s your name?”

“Wh-what?” he asked, his voice weak and confused as his slightly-glazed – still-panicked – brown eyes met hers.

“I’m B—Anne. My name’s Anne. What’s your name?” Buffy repeated, biting back a frown at her own slip up even as she continued to look him over for any more injuries. She didn’t usually do this. Normally she either found victims when they were already dead or just as they were caught and were therefore still able to care for themselves. The few times she came across someone who needed medical attention she’d call Giles and he’d always taken care of it. She’d never asked how, just been relieved when she saw the would-be victim back in school a few days later.

* * *

_Charlie's P.O.V._

“Ch-Charlie. I’m Charlie, Eppes. Charlie Eppes,” Charlie replied shakily while fumbling with the injury on his neck, which he could still feel blood flowing out of far too steadily.

“It’s nice to meet you, Charlie,” the angel told him, her voice gentle and kind as it drew his attention away from his neck and back to her.

He could barely make out her face, as his vision had started to blur from blood loss, but he thought the angel was rather pretty. As an angel should be. She had golden blonde hair that seemed to almost shine in the dim lighting, and the greenest eyes he’d ever seen.

“…kit nearby?”

Charlie frowned as he realized the angel had asked him a question. “Wh-What?”

“A first aid kit, Charlie. Do you have one?”

“Y-Yeah,” Charlie nodded jerkily, wincing as the motion jarred his neck wound and made his curly hair bounce around the bump on his head. “K-Kitchen... th-through th-there,” he told her, glancing towards the nearby door after making a quickly aborted effort to point at it with his bloody hand.

“Okay. You jus... here... be… ‘ack.”

Charlie frowned as the angel started to move away, struggling to try to go after her despite his total lack of any strength whatsoever. He was so weak that even breathing was difficult. And the pain he was still in certainly didn’t help.

“Don’t move,” the angel’s sharp rebuke made his movements cease, though the gentler words that followed made him feel a bit better. “I’ll be right back.”

‘ _She’ll come back... She promised._ ’ Charlie told himself even as the strength he’d apparently been using to hold himself up against the wall failed, causing him to fall further back into the floor, banging his aching head on the wall a bit on the way down.

* * *

_Buffy's P.O.V._

Buffy sped through what looked like a dining room and pushed open the door to the kitchen, glancing around before quickly starting to pull open counter drawers. She found the first aid kit in the third drawer she opened, quickly pulling it out and heading to the fridge for a bottle of water and grabbing some paper towels before hurrying back out to the wounded teen again. As she knelt by Charlie’s once again, she frowned at his glassy-eyed stare. “Hey. Hey, Charlie, you okay?”

Charlie didn’t respond verbally, though his eyes did seem to focus on her face even as weak shivers started to rush through his body.

“ _Shit..._ ” Buffy muttered, as she looked around again, quickly spotting a cell phone sitting on plugged into the wall. She grabbed it, flipping it open to dial 911 even as she grabbed one of the envelopes she saw sitting by it to read the address off it.

“ _911 emergen—_ ”

“I need an ambulance at 874 Hunter Street*, Pasadena,” Buffy cut in quickly while gently moving Charlie forward so that he could lie his head down on her coat as she rolled it up to place it under him.

“ _What is the nature of your emergency, ma’am?_ ” the female operator’s almost monotone reply came.

“I need an ambulance!” Buffy snapped as she pushed Charlie’s hands away from his neck to replace them with the towels she’d brought from the kitchen. “My... friend’s lost a lot of blood from a neck wound. And I think he has a concussion... and he might be in shock.”

“ _Okay, an ambulance is on its way, ma’am. As are the L.A.P.D. Can you reach your friend?_ ”

“Yes.”

“ _Get him a blanket to keep him warm if you can. Can you do that?_ ”

“Yeah. What about his neck injury? He’s loosing a lot of blood!”

“ _Apply pressure to his wound. An ambulance will be there soon. You said he’s in shock?_ ”

“I think so. He told me where his first aid kit was, but now he’s staring at nothing... He’s still breathing, though.”

“ _Try to keep him warm and awake, ma’am. The medics will be there soon and I’ll stay on the line with you until they get there. Do you know how the injury occurred?_ ”

“N-No. I was walking and the front door was open. He was laying there clutching his neck. I closed the door and got his kit,” Buffy answered, hoping the brief but technically truthful summary would be enough to satisfy the woman and the cops that were on their way here. She didn’t know if pointed obliviousness that plagued Sunnydale concerning all things supernatural worked here in LA or not.

“ _Okay. Are you and the victim alone?_ ”

“Y-Yeah. I-I think so. S-Someone else would have h-helped him if they were here, right?”

“… _Yes. Some officers will be there very soon. Don’t let anyone in until the officers or the medics arrive, all right?_ ”

“What if his family comes home?”

“ _Do you know where the victim’s family is?_ ”

“No. But there are pictures everywhere here. And this house is too big for one person so--”

“ _If they return you can let them in, but stay on the line with me and tell them to stay back from the victim, all right?_ ”

“Okay,” Buffy replied, still a little unsurely. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be here when the cops got here... but she couldn’t just leave Charlie like this either.

“ _For the record, ma’am. What is your name?_ ”

Buffy frowned hesitating a moment before replying. “Anne... My name’s Anne O’Connor. Will I need an ID? I don’t drive and I was just out walking, so I don’t have anything with me.”

Angel had told her once that he’d paid a witch or warlock some time in the past to enchant his original surname so that he could move through society with it without problems. And that it supposedly still worked well and would for a long time yet.

“ _Thank you, Miss O’Connor. Is the victim fully unconscious?_ ”

“Umm...” glancing at Charlie’s unfocused, but still moving eyes she shook her head. “No. He’s not really here though, I don’t think... Maybe ‘cause of a concussion?”

“ _Blood loss and shock may also affect that. Is he breathing regularly?_ ”

“No, but I think that’s more because his neck’s hurt and he’s in pain.”

“ _That may be. But keep a close eye on his breathing. Can you find his pulse?_ ”

“Uh, yeah, I could, but my hand’s are kind of full. Wh—” flashing lights drew her eyes to the closed front door and she sighed in relief as she heard more than one vehicle pulling up outside.

“ _Miss O’Connor?_ ”

“The ambulance is here, should I open the door?” Buffy asked, relief clear in her voice even as she continued to watch the windows, waiting for someone to knock or just come in.

“ _Is the door locked?_ ”

“I don’t think so,” Buffy said, frowning toward the doorknob even as she shook her head. “I didn’t think to lock it.”

“ _Then the EMTs should be with you shortly. Just wait for them to come to you. Are the police officers there yet?_ ”

“There’s more than one vehicle, I think, so yeah, I think so,” Buffy nodded, before frowning slightly. “I’m gonna hang up now, I kind of need my hands.”

“ _Wai—_ ”

Not waiting for the command to be finished, Buffy hit the call ‘end’ button with another sigh, slipping the phone into her pocket after a moment’s thought and gently taking one of Charlie’s hands in her own even as she saw a police officer’s face looking in through one of the windows and a moment later was surrounded by officers and medics moving about.

For the next few minutes she watched in a daze as the police officers moved around the house – apparently ‘securing it’ – and the paramedics worked at an almost frantic pace around Charlie, throwing rapid questions at her occasionally after telling her to back away a few steps.

She was pulled out of her daze by one of the paramedic’s voices as they finished loading him on a gurney to take him out of the house. “Miss! Miss, are you coming?” Buffy started, looking up at the medics as they continued to move rapidly down the walkway to the waiting ambulance, one turning a few times to look back at her as they did. As they started loading Charlie into the ambulance even as he called out to her again. “Miss! We have to go!”

When she didn’t respond right away, one of the officers placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and started to pull her towards the ambulance. “It’s all right, Miss. You can go,” he told her. “Someone will come into the hospital to question you later.”

Still a bit unsure, Buffy glanced at Charlie’s face as he was loaded into the ambulance. He apparently wasn’t totally gone from shock. He was aware enough of his surrounding to be frightened by the rapid changes – the medic’s load voices and the many flashing lights – and his chocolate brown eyes had latched onto hers, apparently seeing her as a point of stability in all the chaos. Of course, a part of him probably knew that she’d just save his life in more ways than one, and that made him trust her...

A part of her knew she should send him to the hospital and disappear. But a larger part of her really didn’t want to.

After glancing at the house – empty except for the officers that were canvassing the scene – she glanced at Charlie’s frightened face again as she was pulled up into the ambulance, and nodded, moving to Charlie’s side and taking his hand again as the ambulance’s rear doors slammed shut behind her and the vehicle sped off with its lights flashing, though their siren was silent due to the late – or early – hour and empty streets.

* * *

_Charlie's P.O.V._

Charlie frowned in confusion as the EMTs moved around him rapidly, doing who knows what in all this chaos. The ambulance’s interior was dark, with some soft lighting for the medics to see by but mostly dominated by the flashing red and blue lights the emergency vehicle was broadcasting around them.

He shouldn’t be afraid of an ambulance. Or the hospital. They were taking him there to help him. But he couldn’t help it. His parents were on a different continent and his brother was thousands of miles away too.

He could barely see the angel in the darkness, but he knew the small, warm hand that was holding one of his in a gentle, firm grip was hers. He thought the faint smell or roses his nose was catching might be hers too, as she was the only female there.

That scent and that touch were enough reassurance to tell him that he was safe for now. That is was safe for his eyes to close. To rest. So he did.


	2. A Hellish Place - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have mentioned in the prologue that I’m playing with the timelines for both series a bit to make them work for my story. I’m probably changing more than I need to, but it helps me write, and *shrugs* writer’s creativity license and all that.   
> Enjoy! :-)

 

** First Meeting **

**_Part I in Mathematics & Magic_ **

By Jess S

**_Chapter 1: A Hellish Place_ **

**_Part I_ **

 

**_Los Angeles, California – Monday, June 3, 1996 – EARLY morning_ **

_ Buffy's P.O.V.  _

Buffy had only been in a hospital once since her cousin, Celia, died. But she certainly didn't remember it being as busy--or as chaotic--as this one was. Sure, _L.A General's E.R_ probably got a lot more patients then the Emergency Room in Sunnydale. Firstly because Los Angeles was a lot bigger than Sunnydale, with a lot of potential patients running around 24/7. And secondly because most of the people that were unfortunate enough to become victims of the supernatural on the Hellmouth didn't survive the encounter: so they went straight to one of Sunnydale's dozen morgues.

 

She stepped aside as another ambulance arrived, backing up to the wall to give the hospital staff plenty of room to rush by. She had to bite her lip when she saw that the black boy on the gurney looked a few years younger than her. She was pretty sure 'G.S.W' meant gunshot wound, but all the other technical terms went in one ear and out the other. Though she knew they all meant something to the people around the boy as he was being rushed through the waiting room by paramedics, nurses and probably at least one doctor. Since she'd arrived with Charlie, a little over five minutes ago, that was was the third gunshot victim she'd seen rushed in.

 

"Miss, you're here with Charles Eppes? Miss!"

 

Buffy startled, shaking herself out of her daze to turn towards the frazzled nurse that was waiting for her response. As the words registered she nodded hastily, than hesitantly accepted the clipboard that was shoved in her face.

 

"Fill these out and turn them in at the desk as quickly as possible, please," the nurse ordered, before running over to said desk as the phone rang for what had to be the thirtieth time since Buffy had arrived.

 

The Slayer blinked at the clipboard, her eyes scanning rapidly over what was only the first of multiple pages--and all information she certainly didn't know. She took a step towards the desk to ask the distracted nurse's back, "How am I sup--"

 

"You have his cell phone, don't you?"

 

Buffy wasn't sure how high she jumped, but it must have been about a foot, before she spun towards the vaguely familiar voice. Her eyes momentarily widened with surprise before they narrowed in anger. "What are  _you_ doing here?"

 

Whistler stepped back, fidgeting a bit nervously as he raised his hands at the anger that was radiating from the blonde's form. "Hey, hey, Slayer, remember. I'm just a messenger."

 

"What--"

 

"And yes, I know that what happened with Angel sucked. Believe me, I didn't want to see it end that way, but it was him or the world. And it was my job to let you know that. Sorry." The Balance Demon told her, his voice much firmer than one would expect from someone who looked as nervous as he did. But then Buffy had threatened to rip out his ribcage the last time he saw her. He continued hurriedly, before she could muster a response that'd probably contain a similar threat. "Charlie-boy might not have much time, by the way, so you really should get those filled out."

 

Buffy's eyes darted towards the nurse's station again, where all the nurses were still running around between phones and forms and patients in a sort of organized chaos that made her head spin if she tried to watch it for too long. None of them were paying any attention to the pair that was still several steps away from their desk, so she looked at the clipboard then back at the Balance Demon, now frowning more in confusion than anger. "And how am I supposed to do that?"

 

"You have his cell phone, don't you?" Whistler repeated his earlier question, rolling his eyes slightly as he did so. All his earlier nerves seemingly gone since she wasn't looking like she was going to try to rip his ribcage out right away.

 

"Yes, so--"

 

"Call someone."

 

"Call..." Buffy trailed off as realization struck, sending her rooting through her pockets for the cell phone that she'd called 9-1-1 on less than an hour before. After fumbling with it for a few seconds she smiled as the phonebook popped up. Her smile faded slightly, though, as she scrolled through the list, coming across a surprising number of doctors and a wide range of area codes. Spotting a piece of paper on a nearby side table, she grabbed it and the pen that was with it, before making her way back over to the wall Whistler was leaning against, hurrying her last few steps as yet another gurney was run in from an ambulance. Then she placed the piece of paper on the clipboard the nurse had given her with all the important paperwork on it, and started listing the phone numbers that were probably important: ignoring all the various doctors the poor guy apparently needed to see.

_**Dad**  - Cell._

**_Don_ ** _- Cell._

**_Larry_ ** _\- Home._

**_Larry_ ** _\- Work._

_**Mom** **& Dad** \- Home._

**_Mom_ ** _- Cell._

“Obviously ‘Mom and Dad’ aren’t home,” Buffy muttered to herself. “So who’s cell? ‘Don’ and ‘Larry’ might not be family... Mom’s or Dad’s?” After another second’s thought she scrolled down to ‘ _Mom_ ’ and pressed the green ‘ _Call_ ’ button.

 

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

 

" _Charlie? What are you doing up at this hour? It must be, what,_ " a confused woman's voice answered the phone. " _Two in the morning there now?_ "

 

Buffy licked her lips nervously before asking, “Missus Eppes?”

 

“ _Who—Yes. This is Margaret Eppes. Who is this?_ ”

 

“M-My name’s B—Anne. My name’s Anne. I’m in _L.A General Hospital_ with Charlie.”

 

“ _Oh my god! What happened?!_ ”

 

Buffy took a deep breath, struggling for composure as the woman’s panicked tone brought back memories of her last argument with her own mother a few weeks before. “It l-looks like someone broke into your house. I-I was out walking, and... your front door was open. I heard, um, Charlie calling for help, a-and I called an ambulance,” she explained quickly, stumbling over some of the details she really couldn't give the poor woman and unable to keep her nervousness out of her voice.

 

It was several long moments before Missus Eppes spoke again. Buffy could hear her taking several long, deep breaths to calm herself even as she heard a man’s voice asking what was wrong in the background. “ _Tha-Thank you for that, dear. What did you say your name was?_ ”

 

“Anne, ma’am.”

 

“ _Well, thank you very much for your help, Anne. Will you please tell Charlie’s doctor that his father and I will be on the first available flight back from Paris?_ ”

 

“Ye-Yes, ma’am,” Buffy nodded, before hurriedly continuing. “They want me to fill out some paperwork for him. Can you help me? I don’t want to make him wait for anything.”

 

“ _What are—_ "

 

Buffy frowned slightly as she saw Whistler make a strange, waving gesture out of the corner of her eyes, but she decided to ignore it as the older woman continued.

 

" _No. Never mind. Yes, I’ll help you. One moment,_ ” Missus Eppes obviously pulled the phone away from her, but Buffy could still hear her ask her husband, “ _Alan, call the airport and the front desk. We need to get home right away. Charlie’s in the hospital._ ” Then she was on the phone again, “ _All right, dear. Are you ready?_ ”

 

Having already seated herself on the floor since there were no free chairs, Buffy propped the phone in the crook of her shoulder and held her stolen pen over the clipboard before she nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I'm ready.”

 

“ _Well, Charlie’s full name is Doctor Charles Edward Eppes._ ”

 

Buffy blinked at the title but wrote it in anyway, even as she asked because she wasn't able to suppress her curiosity: “He’s a doctor?”

 

He didn't look that much older than her. She would've thought he was still in high school, too.

 

“ _Of mathematics, yes._ ”

 

Buffy frowned in slight confusion at that, but shook her head and forced herself to move on. “Okay, his birth date?”

 

“ _May fifteenth, nineteen-seventy-seven._ ”

 

“His social security?” Buffy asked, writing down the response and breezing through most of the following questions with relative ease. Finally closing it with, “And who should I put down for emergency contacts?”

 

“ _Margaret and Alan Eppes. Mother and Father. You have my cell phone number already, from Charlie’s cell? Do you have Alan’s?_ ”

 

“That would be 'Dad's Cell' on Charlie's phone?”

 

“ _Yes._ ”

 

“Yeah, I do.”

 

_“And his brother_ , _Don Eppes._ ”

 

“All right. Is his brother nearby? Should I call him?” Buffy offered with a frown as she quickly scanned the paperwork again, to make sure it was complete, starting slightly when she realized she’d made another unusual offer of help.

 

She shook her head at that, reasoning that she just felt guilty for not getting to Charlie sooner or patrolling more regularly--something she'd stopped almost entirely since leaving Sunnydale. It certainly hadn't been easy to keep the Slayer suppressed, but so far she'd handled it. Until tonight. If she'd been able to ignore it tonight, Charlie would be dead and those three vamp-hos would still be trolling the town. So maybe the Slayer was latching onto Charlie, or maybe her conscious was, either way she didn't really have time to think about it right now.

 

“ _Oh, would you, dear?_ ” Missus Eppes’ thankful response drew Buffy out of her thoughts. “ _He’s in Nevada, if he's off-duty. Or he could be anywhere in the country if he's working, but_ _he could still fly there much faster than his father and I can. If-If he’s not on an assignment in the field. He works in Fugitive Recovery. I have to pack now – would you mind calling him?_ ”

 

“No-No, not at all.”

 

“ _Thank you so much, dear. Please call me if anything, anything at all, changes. All right?_ ”

 

“I will, Missus Eppes.”

 

“ _Thank you, Anne. I’ll see you in a few hours._ ”

 

“Goodbye, Missus Eppes. Have a safe flight.” With another sigh, Buffy hung up and opened the phonebook again to try the brother’s cell phone. She set the clipboard down on the floor as she rose to her feet and leaned back against the wall.

 

She was starting to see why Giles always told her to just drop people off and leave--or better yet--disappear when the ambulance arrived.

 

After several unanswered rings – unsurprising, considering the time – the phone’s voicemail picked up. " _Hi, this is Special Agent Don Eppes. I'm not available to take your call right now. If this is related to a case, please call the F.B.I Headquarters at 1-202-324-3447 or the U.S. Fugitive Recovery Office at 1-702-562-4141. If not, leave a message._ " *(1)

 

At the tone--or more specifically after hearing Don Eppe's title--Buffy started a bit nervously, but she forced herself to carry on. "Umm, he-hello Agent Eppes. I'm sorry to bother you, but your mother, Margaret Eppes, asked me to call you and tell you that Charlie's in the hospital. Your brother, Charlie, I mean. I-I think she's hoping you might be able to make it to California sooner than your parents, since they're flying back from Europe," she licked her lips nervously, then shot a glare at Whistler as she saw him glancing at his hideous watch. "She said you might not be able to, if-if you're working. If you are, that's understandable. But, it's, uh," Buffy grabbed Whistler's wrist and ignored his protests as she turned the ugly watch's face towards her. "It's 2 A.M right now, and I'm waiting for a report from the doctors at L.A. General. If you get this any time soon, feel free to call me back. I don't have my own cell with me, but I have your brother's. Goodbye." As she brought the phone away from her ear, she stopped herself just before hitting the 'End' button to bring it back, "Oh! And my name's Anne."

 

“Miss?” the harassed nurse that'd pushed the clipboard at her a few moments ago had returned, an expectant look on her tired face. “Are those papers almost done? We need that information as soon as possible.”

 

“Y-Yeah. Here they are. I had to call his Mom to answer some of them,” Buffy told her, hoping to excuse the amount of time it had taken her to fill them out.

 

The nurse was nodding distractedly as she looked the papers' over, but then she looked up with a frown. “'His' mother? You’re not family?”

 

“N-No.” Buffy shook her head, “His parents are in Europe. In Paris. And his brother lives, uh, out-of-state. I found Charlie, and called the ambulance. The police and E.M.T's said I could come in with him.”

 

The nurse shook her head slightly, still frowning, but suddenly she paused, an odd look passing over her face as Buffy saw Whistler out of the corner of her eyes: he was make that same waving motion at the woman. “Oh. Are you his girlfriend, then?”

 

“N—” Buffy blinked, suddenly struck by the realization that if she admitted to not knowing Charlie at all before finding him this evening she probably wouldn’t be able to help him anymore. She didn’t want that. For one, she’d promised Missus Eppes she’d look after him until his parents got here. And two, despite how much she still hated hospitals, a large part of her wanted to make sure he was okay, so she nodded. “Y-Yeah. We’re kinda new though.”

 

The nurse nodded, still frowning even as her eyes went back to the papers she'd come for while she told Buffy, a bit distractedly, “We need to get in touch with his family as soon as possible. Is his brother flying in also?”

 

“I don’t know. I called and left him a voicemail, but he’s an F.B.I Agent, and his Mom said he might not be able to come if he’s working now.” Buffy shrugged a little helplessly. “She said that they’ll be back as soon as possible. But they’re in Paris, so it could be a while.”

 

“And if they’re flying we won’t be able to contact them for an extended period of time... Can you get Missus Eppes on the phone again?” The nurse asked, still frowning. “If she gives the hospital permission, you can act as his medical advocate in their absence.”

 

“U-Um, al-alright. Give me a second, please,” Buffy replied, taking out Charlie’s cell phone again, and opening the list of recent phone calls to select ‘Mom’ and hit ‘Call’ again, glad that the phone was fully charged when she'd grabbed it on her way out of the house.

 

As the phone was ringing, the nurse gave her a nod and said, “I’m just going to take these to the doctor. We’ll be right back to speak to her.”

 

Buffy nodded, watching her speed away with no little amount of relief as she glanced around to find herself alone with the cell phone at her ear. Except for all the other peoples whose panicked attention was elsewhere. And Whistler, who no one else seemed to notice, despite his hideous suit.

 

After a total of four rings, Missus Eppes picked up. “ _Hello? Anne?_ ”

 

“Yes, Missus Eppes, it’s me. Anne, I mean,” Buffy replied quickly. “I’m sorry to call you back so soon. But a nurse said the doctor needs to speak to you.”

 

“ _What happened? Is Charlie okay?_ ”

 

“I-I think so, they haven’t told me otherwise, at least,” Buffy replied hesitantly, pausing for a second before continuing. “Umm, I should tell you. I told the nurse that I was Charlie’s girlfriend. When she realized I wasn’t family I think they would have had to kick me out, a-and I didn’t want Charlie to be a-alone here, so when she asked if I was his girlfriend I-I said yes." She hurried on again when Missus Eppes didn't respond after a moment, frowning slightly as she saw Whistler making that same strange waving motion again, this time at her. "They-They said that if you give your permission, I-I can act as his, um, his medical advocate. Until you get here. I-I'd still call you, of course, but--"

 

" _But once we're in the air, we'll be out of contact,_ " Missus Eppes cut in, her voice surprisingly warm. " _That's fine, dear. Thank you again, for doing so much for Charlie... You're sure you're up to this responsibility?_ "

 

"Ye-Yes, ma'am. I think so." Buffy glanced up as she heard Whistler cough, and saw the nurse she'd spoken to before hurrying back towards her with another older woman in tow. "The doctor's here now."

 

" _Okay, let me talk to him, please._ "

 

“Her,” Buffy corrected quietly, before putting a hand over the phone’s speaker to talk to the doctor. “I have Missus Eppes, Charlie's mom, on the phone."

 

The doctor accepted the phone from her with a nod. "Hello, Missus Eppes? I'm Doctor Helge. I'll be Doctor Eppes' attending trauma surgeon." She paused for a second, listening, before nodding again. "Yes, Charlie should be fine. He sustained a number of injuries, the worst of which are a mild concussion, which we're keeping an eye on, and the loss of a significant amount of blood." Again she paused, then nodded again, this time sighing as she replied, "Yes, we need to give him a transfusion, but I'm afraid the hospital is short on negative blood types at the moment due to several gang shootings this evening and a loss of power in one of the main refrigeration units. Doctor--Charlie is type AB negative, correct?" the doctor nodded again, stepping back against the wall beside Buffy as another gurney was run in from yet another ambulance. "Yes, with the accident and all of the transfusion we've needed this evening, our supply of negative and universal blood-types has run out. There's supposed to be more on the way from another hospital, but I'm afraid there are several patients in need of transfusions before Charlie, so he may need to wait longer than I like. We have him on saline and plasma drips right now, but he really needs blood." She paused again, then shook her head, "If we give him O positive--" *(2)

 

“Won’t that make him sick?” Buffy protested with a frown, shaking her head as the doctor and nurse looked at her. “Since he’s AB negative? I-I thought you couldn’t mix those.”

 

Doctor Helgen nodded resignedly, “As Miss – Anne, was it? – just pointed out, we really shouldn’t mix positive blood types with AB negative. It could make him very ill." She paused for Missus Eppes reponse again. “The problem, Missus Eppes, is that your son _needs_ blood. Saline and plasma can only help him for so long. But he can only receive from sixteen percent of the donor population, which normally wouldn't be a problem but is with the blood shortage and several other patients also having negative blood types. He's young, so his body's still fighting, but even tied to the I.V's and life-support we have him on now, we don't know how much longer his body can support itself without more blood." *(2)

 

Buffy’s frown deepened, and she shook her head. She’d known, of course, that the vamp had taken a lot of his blood, but the added complication of the hospital not having his rare blood type on hand obviously meant he could still die. That was part of the reason, she remembered, Giles had let Willow talk all of them into getting their blood tested, so that they’d know their blood types...

 

She started as the memory that thought brought came back to her.

 

**_~ * FLASHBACK * ~_ **

_Giles nodded in response to Willow’s arguments with a slight smile on his face. “You have a number of excellent points, Willow.”_

_“So when should I sign us up for?” Willow demanded, eyes scanning Sunnydale General Hospital’s homepage on her laptop. “S.G.H is having a blood drive now...” She shook her head, “You know, I used to wonder why we have so many of them. We have, like, five times the number of blood drives any of the hospital in L.A_ _have.”_

_“Really?” Xander mumbled through the doughnut he was currently munching on. “Guess it makes sense, with all the vamp attacks around here.”_

_“Indeed it does,” Giles agreed still smiling. “And yes, generally vampires don't need to kill their victims, so depending on their temperament, they may let you go. T_ _he two of you," he nodded to Willow and Xander, "Should get your blood tested. And donate some, if you so desire. Though, as a werewolf, Oz cannot.”_

_“Yah, that’d be bad,” Xander agreed as he reached for another piece of sugary goodness. “Survive a vamp only to become a ‘wolf every full moon. No thank you,” he nodded to Oz and again mumbled through his doughnut, “No ‘fense.”_

_“None taken,” Oz nodded in return._

_Willow frowned, “What about you and Miss Calendar? And Buffy, she’s a lot more likely to need blood than we are.”_

_“Jenny and I already know our blood types. Jenny donated last month. I already knew because it's Council policy. And buffy doesn't need to be tested._ _”_

 

_Buffy blinked in surprise at that, but it was Willow who actually asked._

_“Why not? She—”_

_“Is the Slayer.” Giles cut in, “And as per Council policy her blood was tested immediately after she was first Called." At Buffy's confused look, he told her, "You may remember Merrick taking a small sample of your blood?" He continued as she thought about that._ _"And, it was once again found that she has the same blood type that every other Slayer has had before her.”_

_“Slayer’s all have the same blood type? Really?” Willow blinked, before shaking her head. “That’s kind of neat. Do you know why?”_

_“No.” Giles shook his head as he removed his glasses and began to polish them. “It’s been theorized that all Slayers are universal donors because that is the opposite of vampires, figuratively speaking."_ _Setting his glasses back on his face, he continued. “But we do not know for certain. To our knowledge, their blood doesn’t even change. They’re born universal donors and when they become slayers their blood takes on some mystical attributes, which may contribute to their abilities. But their blood type does not change..”_

_“So Buffy’s O negative?” Willow verified._

_“O negative plus Slay-power!” Xander added, apparently intrigued by the idea._

_“Indeed.”_

_Here, Buffy finally spoke up, looking up from the math book she’d been struggling to comprehend for the quiz that was coming up the next day--though that was before her Watcher had set her on the task of trying to remember Merrick testing her blood before. “What does that mean if I donate blood?”_

_Giles frowned, “I beg your pardon?”_

_“If I give blood. Will it help or hurt whoever, umm, gets it?”_

_“Theoretically,” here the glasses came off again, “It could only help. However it is standard Council policy that Slayers cannot give blood. Nor can I, as an active field Watcher.”_

_“Why?” Buffy demanded with a frown, “If it’d help—”_

_“It isn’t considered wise for you to voluntarily weaken yourself, Buffy. And some Watchers believe that the blood of a Slayer might have a mystical effect on a normal human being. Vampires have always insisted that the blood of a Slayer is significantly different – more potent, mystically powerful – than the blood of normal humans for them, so it is a reasonable hypothesis.”_

_“So someone I gave my blood to could become a Slayer?” Buffy was still frowning. "I'd think the Council would like that."_

_“No, no,” Giles shook his head as he put his glasses back on. “Not as such. As their own body recovered, it would replace your blood with their own, and whatever abilities they gained from having some of your blood should fade with time. There’s a chance some remnants of your abilities might remain... but," he sighed, then admitted, "The Council is rather protective of the Slayer. So it’s never tested that.”_

_“What about blood bonds?” Willow asked, still clearly intrigued. “I read about those in one of the magic books. If the Slayer's blood is mystical, wouldn't a bond naturally form?”_

_“Yes, that is a possibility, as well." Seeing that only one of the other three teenagers knew what Willow was talking about, Giles explained, "As the blood of the Slayer contains a powerful mystical component, though it might pass their powers temporarily to another in a transfusion, it would almost certainly form a blood bond between the two."_

_“What would that mean?” Buffy asked, her math book forgotten in her lap._

_“It would be similar to the bond that exists between a vampire and its Sire. Both are able to sense each other to some degree, and feel a connection between them. And yes, some of the Sire's attributes are often inherited, though in different degrees depending on the individual.” He paused, his glasses finally returning to his face as he continued. “In essence, you would forever feel connected to whoever you saved in this manner, and as the Council does not want the Slayer to have such connections—”_

 

_"They forbid Slayers from giving blood," Buffy cut in. "_ _Even when it might save lives. When my ability to heal might be the difference between life and death for someone...”_

 

_"To be fair," Xander interrupted as he finished his doughnut, shrugging as all eyes flew to him. "It could be dangerous for you, too. I mean, losing blood, even for a good cause, will make you weaker for a while, right?" He nodded without waiting for confirmation. "Right. And if someone noticed anything different about your blood--"_

 

_"I could end up a lab rat somewhere, I guess," Buffy winced, nodding in agreement, before sighing. "I guess..."_

**_~ * END OF FLASHBACK * ~_ **

 

Buffy shook her head, frowning as her mind came back to the present and whacking the finger Whistler was about to poke her with aside as she turned her eyes back to the doctor. She still didn’t want to be the Slayer, but she didn’t want to let Charlie die either. And despite the Council’s ‘forbidding’ the act, she knew she could help. So she spoke up. “Excuse me, Doctor Helgen?”

 

“Please excuse me a moment, Missus Eppes,” The doctor turned to her with a frown, “Yes, Miss?”

 

“I’m O negative. My blood type, I mean. Could I donate for Charlie?”

 

The doctor blinked at her, still seeming to not notice the man dressed in orange that was next to Buffy and waving at the older woman again. "You are? You're certain?”

 

“Yeah, I had my blood tested at a blood drive just a few months ago.” Buffy lied more smoothly than before. “Can I give Charlie some of my blood?” she asked again.

 

Doctor Helgen stared at her for a second, still not noticing as Whistler made that strange waving motion at her, before she nodded and turned her attention back to the phone. "Excuse me, Missus Eppes? Apparently Miss--your son's girlfriend, Anne--is Type O, negative, and willing to donate. It'd mean a bit more paperwork, but..." she paused abruptly as Charlie's mom said something in response, then nodded again. "Yes, she is. I understand you're willing to let Miss--one moment," raising an eyebrow at Buffy, she asked, "What is your name, dear? I can't seem to recall it." 

 

Buffy hesitated for a moment, but reasoning that she was already tied to Charlie through the 9-1-1 call she might as well trust the spell Angel had placed on his old surname really did work. Plus, she still felt a bit safe with it, since it wasn’t a name the Watcher’s Council was likely to be looking for. “It’s O’Conner, ma'am. Anne O’Conner.”

 

“I understand you’re willing to let Miss O’Conner act as your son’s medical advocate in your absence? Yes, Anne O’Connor.” Doctor Helgen nodded again. “Very well, I’m going to give you to Nurse Lockley, she’ll give you a few numbers you need to call. The hospital director and whatnot, to allow this.” She paused a few moments longer, then nodded again. “Yes, of course. Please make these calls right away... Thank you, Missus Eppes. Have a safe flight. I'll pass you to Nurse Lockley now." So saying, she handed the phone to the nurse, who quickly moved away towards the nearby nurses station even as Doctor Helgen turned back to Buffy and gestured towards the E.R doors. "Shall we?"

 

Buffy went obediently, hoping this would work. And still a little wigged out by the fact that she seemed to be the only one that could see the Balance Demon walking along with them. If her eyes had to be attacked by his awful clothing choices, everyone else should suffer, too...

* * *

**_Los Angeles, California - Monday, June 3, 1996 - still EARLY morning..._ **

_Buffy's P.O.V._

 

Buffy couldn’t help but glance worriedly around the hospital room, at all the people bustling about, all the equipment... and the far too still, too pale, Charlie. She was a little surprised that they'd been setup in a hospital room, considering how busy the E.R was, but the thought quickly left her mind as Doctor Helgen returned with Whistler--who everyone was still not noticing--a step behind her.

 

The doctor nodded to Nurse Lockley, who'd been standing between Buffy and Charlie's beds for a few minutes now, seeming pretty happy to just be standing still for that time. "Her blood's clean," Doctor Helgen reported, smiling at 'Anne,' "and the paper work's all done. So we can get started."

 

Buffy returned her smile hesitantly, before her eyes went to the nurse as the older woman gently took hold of her upper arm and started getting it ready for the transfusion. Her eyes darted back to the doctor, however, when Doctor Helgen started talking again.

 

"You're sure you don't want to contact your parents for this, Miss O'Connor?" she asked.

 

Buffy shook her head firmly and the doctor sighed.

 

"We don't have to, since you're twenty-one," Doctor Helgen finished, glancing at Buffy with a frown but continuing when Whistler waved at her again. "Your primary care physician is Doctor Mark Wallace?"

 

Buffy nodded hesitantly, hoping that listing someone who was turned into a vampire a little over two months ago--and subsequently staked--hadn't been a bad idea. "He was, yeah. I haven't found a new one yet, but I just had my physical a few months ago. Haven't need one since then."

 

"You're transferring out of Doctor Wallace's care?"

 

Buffy let herself wince then, "Well, he died a few weeks ago."

 

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," Doctor Helgen shook her head.

 

And Whistler was waving at the doctor again--the waving thing was getting annoying. Why was he doing it? What was he even doing here? Not that she could ask, since she was the only one who could see him right now. She definitely didn't want to end up in a psych ward ever again.

 

"Well, I'd much rather have approval from either your parents or your regular physician, but--"

 

"I'm fine, Doctor Helgen," Buffy cut in, hoping her voice was firm as she glanced away from the needly the nurse was now holding, waiting for the doctor to finally give the order. "Charlie's your patient, remember? And he needs this."

 

Helgen shook her head, smiling slightly. "Actually, you became my patient, too, Anne, when you submitted yourself for this," she told her, then sighed. "Alright. Well, Charlie needs as much blood as we can take, so we're going to take just under a pint, which is the most an average person can donate. Considering how small your are--" *(3)

 

"Take as much as he needs," Buffy insisted, shaking her head when both the nurse and doctor frowned at her again. "I'm in really good shape, and I've always healed quickly. I've actually lost a lot of blood before, too--not recently, though--and the doctor said my body actually reproduced it a lot more quickly than most. So please take as much as you possibly can, I'll sign whatever you need me to for it, but like you said: he needs it."

 

"Yes, he does," Doctor Helgen agrees, before shaking her head yet again. "But we don't want to hurt you to help him, Miss O'Connor. You're very small--"

 

"I'm in great shape," Buffy cut in again, frowning right back at them as she added, "And I'll be staying here for a while afterwards, anyway. I promised Missus Eppes I'd stay with Charlie at least till she gets here, so you can observe me, or whatever, then."

 

At that Doctor Helgen offered her a tired, but kind smile. "Yes, I heard," then she sighed, still not noticing as Whistler waved at her--though this time Buffy could suppress her frown as it drew her eyes back to the badly dressed Balance Demon again. "Alright," she nodded to Nurse Lockley before her eyes went back to Buffy. "We'll be monitoring your blood pressure, but we'll take as much as we safely can within the hospital's regulations. It's not as much as he really needs, but if tried for any more we'd lose our jobs.

 

Buffy bit her lip, but nodded before turning to watch as one of the nurses she didn't know came in to hook her up to the saline drip that Lockley had been talking about a minute ago. At the same time, Lockley was handing Doctor Helgen the equipment for the transfusion. She watched as the doctor first stuck a needle into her arm--near the inside of her elbow--before stopping to frown as she looked at the large bag the nurse had attached to a nearby machine.

 

"Why--"

 

"That was the only size I could find, doctor," the nurse explained quickly. "The lab's a mess down there, trying to get everything they can out while they wait for the Red Cross shipment to come in. I couldn't get anyone to help me look for a smaller bag right away, but the pump will tell us when it hits a pint, right?"

 

After a moment Doctor Helgen nodded--right after Whistler waved at her again--and sighed before attaching the tube from Buffy's arm to the pump that was probably supposed to fill the bag. She frowned as she looked over the machine and shook her head. "Is this new?"

 

Nurse Lockley nodded, "Yeah. Administration just started replacing them with this kind this week. I think we're supposed to review it at the next seminar. They're supposed to be faster and more efficient, all that good stuff. You already took the course, didn't you, Lisa?"

 

The nurse that'd brought the big bag and pump in nodded, stepping forward. "Yeah, I can get it started if you want, Doctor Helgen. One pint, right?"

 

The doctor stepped aside with a nod, frowning at the new device as she muttered, "You'd think they'd teach us how to use it before replacing the old ones." Her eyes then met Buffy's as she forced a small smile onto her face. "Just a moment, Anne. This shouldn't take too much longer." Her eyes went back to the other nurse--Lisa--as the younger woman moved back.

 

"All set."

 

"Thank you, Lisa," Doctor Helgen nodded, before nodding as Lockley put a small plastic ball in Buffy's hand.

 

Squeeze that," Lockley told her, before shaking her head and patting Buffy's hand softly. "No, gently, gently. And slower, about every five to seven seconds." 

 

With the nurse's calm coaxing, under Doctor Helgen's attentive eyes, Buffy watched as her blood left her body and flowed steadily into Charlie's. She was a little uncomfortable with the action, as she felt the confusion from the Slayer part of her at the lost. It was a feeling that was hers but not hers, in her mind but not entirely her--and something she'd been able to sense more and more steadily since her momentary death at The Master's hands. The Slayer was unhappy at losing blood, but just as happy that the blood would help save an innocent life that the vampires had tried to take. After a few moments of the conflicting emotions rolling around in her head, she felt the volatile part of her being relax and accept what was happening. And then she swore she could actually feel her healing ability kick into overdrive, as though it wanted to make up for the loss as it was occurring.

 

"Are you alright, Anne?"

 

Buffy blinked, glancing up to see that the doctor was still watching her--even as Whistler was waving crazily at everyone in the room like a  crazy person. She made herself ignore the clearly unbalance but invisible demon and nodded in response to the concerned inquiry. "I'm fine. It just..." she shrugged. "It looks a little weird, you know? To watch my blood like... that."

 

Doctor Helgen nodded in understanding, smiling slightly. "Actually, most people don't watch when they're donating blood, even when it's into another person that's right next to them. Though that's rarely done. They might glance at anything else in the room, but generally they shut their eyes, or look at anything but the needle in their arm and the blood leaving them."

 

"Blood doesn't bother me," Buffy replied with another shrug, adding with a glance around the room. "I'm not too fond of hospitals, actually, but blood doesn't bother me."

 

"Most people don't like being in hospitals," the doctor replied, her tone sympathetic now. "I can't blame them. Being in one if you don't work there means that either you're unwell or someone you care for is." She was silent for a second, before asking, "Have you spent much time in a hospital before?"

 

"Not really," Buffy answered honestly, seeing not harm in telling the truth there. "I visited my Dad's mom a few times before she died when I was little. And I-I saw my cousin die in one."

 

"Your cousin?"

 

"Yeah. Celia. She died when I was eight," Buffy told her quietly, her eyes distant as she traveled down memory lane to that terrible memory that she'd only recently learned was tied to demons, too. "She was supposed to be getting better and my parents left me in her hospital room for a little while, to play with her. We started coloring, and we were talking, and then she just... froze up. Then she started shaking. Then all the machines started making a lot of noise and I hid in the corner while the doctors tried to save her. One of the nurses spotted me as they were covering her up."

 

"I'm sorry."

 

Buffy started at the doctor's equally quiet, sad words, before shaking her head. "Not your fault. But thanks."

 

"It's easy to understand your not liking hospitals then," Nurse Lockley offred kindly.

 

"It is," the doctor agreed. "And it makes your calm decisiveness today all the more admirable."

 

"Um, thanks, I think," Buffy sighed, shaking her head. "It was a long time ago, anyway. And Charlie needs me today."

 

"He does," Doctor Helgen nodded, then asked, "How old was your cousin?"

 

"Celia? I think she was seven when she died. Just a little younger than me."

 

The doctor shook her head again with weary sadness. "I became a doctor to help people. And I've learned to accept death when it happens, but it's much harder with children."

 

"It should be, I think," Buffy replied, as her mind traveled back to some of the time's she'd needed to rescue kids from vamps.

 

Most of the residents of Sunnydale knew it wasn't safe to come out after dark. And most of the parents there made sure their children were always safe, especially the little ones. But sometimes she'd run into out-of-towners that weren't so well-informed.

 

Buffy shook her head, frowning as she saw Whistler suddenly stop his crazy waving and start a different gesture. One that almost looked like 'stop,' like a crossing guard gesture. She was distracted by what felt like an almost purr from the Slayer. *(4)

 

A moment later Lockley cleared her throat nervously. "Doctor Helgen, isn't that..."

 

All eyes went to the older nurse first, and then to the nearly full bag of blood that she was looking at.

 

"What? Oh!" the doctor was frowning deeply as she went through the motions of removing the needle from Buffy's arm with the ease of long practice, allowing the nurse to press a bandage there as the last of Buffy's donated blood was sucked up the tube, through the pump and into the bag. "There we go," she said as she taped the bandage in place, frowning at the bag all the while. "Damn. How much did we take?"

 

Nurse Lockley glanced at the bag also, her face nervous as she replied, "Almost a pint and a half, I think, doctor." *(3)

 

Doctor Helgen shook her head again, her frown deepening. "That's what I thought," she murmured as she wrote the amount in. "Damn. I didn't want to take that much." Her eyes went to the younger nurse, who was scowling at the new pump, only to flinch as she noticed the doctor's eyes narrowing at her. "Lisa, what--"

 

"I don't know what happened, doctor," the nurse shook her head. "The pump says it hasn't reach a pint yet!"

 

"That's more than a pint," Helgen snapped, shaking her head. "Almost a whole half more."

 

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked, frowning as she shook her head and watched the doctor's eyes fly over the machines that were monitoring Buffy before looking at her. "You didn't take that much," the Slayer insisted, glancing at the much too-pale Charlie again as she asked, "Are you sure that's enough?"

 

"I didn't think we'd be able to take a full pint, Anne, and we ended up taking more than that. Almost half a pint more." The doctor shook her head again. "I was so busy watching your vitals, waiting for a signal that we had to stop early--I didn't even think of watching this thing." She jerked her chin at the pump, clearly furious with it. "And trust me, I'm going to have quite a few words with maintenance--and administration--about this." Seeing the concerned glances that Buffy was still giving Charlie, she sighed. "Though how he lost so much blood from such a small wound I really don't understand, even a neck wound..." *(3)

 

"But you didn't take that much!" Buffy protested again, not seeing how the small amount they'd taken could help him, and still not sure why the Slayer had actually  _purred_ before they decided to stop. *(4)

 

"Look," the doctor put her clipboard back on the wall and pointed at some of the machines around Charlie as she continued. " _Legally_ , we weren't supposed to take this much, especially considering your size. They take more in combat situations in the military, but those men are considerably larger than you. And this should be more than enough to help Charlie's body begin healing well. His pulse and blood pressure should steady-out, and his breathing will regulate as his heart calms down. All good things." She shot the too-full bag of blood an exasperated look before nodding to Nurse Lockley and watching as said nurse wheeled the blood and pump closer to Charlie's beg, while the younger, and still more nervous nurse got more equipment to continue the transfusion into Charlie. "There's no point in pumping some of it back into you, but you are going to need to stay in that bed for the rest of the night."

 

"But he might need more. You should take more. I feel fine!" Buffy protested, watching as the nurses finished setting up for the doctor.

 

"It's not necessary," Helgen insisted, then turned away from her to insert the needle into Charlie's arm, before attaching it to the pump and nodding to the younger nurse to turn it on. "Keep an eyes on that," she ordered with a frown for the new machine.

 

"It-It shouldn't be a problem here, doctor. It doesn't have to measure it this time, so--"

 

"It shouldn't have been a problem before, either," the doctor snapped, before turning back to Buffy, her tone gentling as she replied to Buffy's earlier protest. "I'm glad you feel fine. You may experience some dizziness, though your body should replace the blood you've lost in the next twenty-four hours. Which is why you'll be staying in that bed until morning, at least. We--"

 

"But I promised--"

 

"We'll keep Charlie right here, too. So you can keep an eye on him, all right?" After receiving a hesitant nod the doctor gently patted her on the shoulder. "We're going to get you hooked up to an I.V and one of the nurses will bring you a snack and some orange juice. I want you to eat it all, and then get some rest." She held up a hand to forestall protests. "If there's any news I'll be sure to let you know. But both you and Charlie need to rest right now, all right?

 

After a moment's hesitation, Buffy nodded reluctantly, though she was happy to see that Charlie did seem to be breathing more easily already. And he didn't look as pale as before either. "Okay. You'll wake me if--"

 

"I'll wake you if Charlie nees anything," the doctor promised, her pale blue eyes bright as she offered Buffy another smile. "You did a good thing this eve--this morning, Anne. Now eat your snack," she gestured to the cookie and orange juice that Lisa was just returning with. "Then get some rest."

 

Obediently, Buffy accepted the big cookie and the glass of orange juice, surprised to find that the cookie didn't taste like cardboard. Who knew hospitals had good cookies?

 

Nurse Lockley kept an eye on her until she'd finished the snack, and she was still puttering around the room as Buffy laid her head down and closed her eyes.

 

Buffy didn't really expect to be able to fall asleep in the hospital, but after a few moments the calm, quiet noises around he became distant as she faded off to sleep.

* * *

**_Sunnydale, California – Monday, June 3, 1996 – early morning_ **

_ Joyce's P.O.V.  _

Joyce Summers sighed as she moved around her kitchen again. Puttering. She didn’t need to be at the gallery for a few hours yet. Normally she wouldn’t even be awake at this hour, the birds were still only half-awake.

 

But then, nothing had been ‘normal’ about the last few weeks. Or the last few years, really. For Buffy 'normal' had apparently disappeared some time around her fifteenth birthday, as that was when she was 'Called' as the Slayey. For Joyce, nothing had been normal since the night she found out about that--when she saw her daughter shove a wooden stake through a masked-man's heart and learned that he was not a man in a mask, but a vampire, as he'd crumbled to dust. And then she'd learned that her daughter was some kind of mythic warrior that was supposed to fight these monsters...

 

She wished she’d reacted better. Since finding out all of what her daughter’s ‘destiny’ entailed, she _really_ wished she hadn’t taken her confusion-based anger out on her only child.

 

It hadn’t been anymore reasonable to scream at Mister Giles when he’d come to her home to ask after Buffy a few days after she’d run away. After Joyce had kicked her out. But it had made her feel better. A little, at least.

 

Though that feeling quickly faded over the hours she’d then spent with the 'Watcher,' learning about her daughter’s life of the last few years. Learning about the 'fights and weird occurrences' Buffy had referred to.

 

It had broken her heart all over again. And until her daughter came home, she didn’t think that her heart had any hope of healing.

 

She’d filed a missing persons report weeks ago. At the same time Mister Giles and several of Buffy’s friends had gone to the police station to clear Buffy’s name.

 

Apparently the Sunnydale High School principal really was an evil man, as Buffy had insisted so many times. For she could think of no other reason he would be so insistent that Buffy was a murderer. Nor any reason he could refuse to let Buffy to return to school once her name was cleared.

 

All of that had eventually been sorted out though. With the police, at least. She wasn't sure about Principal Snyder.

 

But now all she needed was for her baby to come home.

 

She hoped Buffy would choose to return soon, but also put faith in Mister Giles finding her. A lot more faith than she could spare for the town's incompetent police department. Giles, at least, was expending time and effort looking for her. The police barely seemed to be trying at all.

 

Joyce shook her head. After finding out that real, true demons existed she’d been seeing evil everywhere, which was not how she wanted to live.

 

Hopefully, the world would seem like a better place when Buffy came home. And hopefully that was soon. She didn’t know how much more of this _waiting_ she could take...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what do you think so far?  
> This is apparently going to take longer to transfer than I thought, because the perfectionist in me has to go over it all again, but we're getting there.  
> Thank you to those who review for the prologue, I’m glad that you like what you’ve seen so far and hope you continue to like it as I go along.  
> Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome, so please review!  
> Some notes from within the chapter:  
> *(1) The phone numbers that Don gives in his voicemail, for the FBI Headquarters and the US Fugitive Recovery, ARE real. Please DO NOT call them unless you really need to.  
> Also, technically Don wouldn’t be able to work in Fugitive Recovery until he was twenty-five or older, but I’m ignoring that. I’m also not sure if Fugitive Recovery is attached to the FBI, a different federal office, or even part of the US government per say. But NUMB3RS always seems to indicate that Don worked there as an FBI agent, and I’m pretty sure his former partner identified himself as FBI too, so I’m saying they’re a division of the FBI.  
> *(2) According to the Red Cross, everything I said about blood types here—with the obvious exception of Slayer-blood—is accurate. For more information, run a Google search or go to: (http://chapters.redcross.org/br/northernohio/INFO/bloodtype.html).  
> *(3) Again, according to the Red Cross, one pint is the amount of blood generally taken from donors. For more information, have fun with Google or go to: (http://www.givelife2.org/donor/faq.asp).  
> *(4) Please don’t ask me why my muse compares the Slayer-essence to a cat. I don’t fully understand it myself, it just is.  
> Oh, and according to several sites—including some Red Cross ones—I didn’t actually have to give too many reasons for the hospital being short on Charlie’s rare blood type. Apparently it does happen, most often in the summers and winters when people are too busy with snow or vacations, etc., to donate. One of the sites that explained this is this one: (http://www.bloodcenters.org/aboutblood/bloodfacts.htm). And I know the Red Cross link I listed did, too.  
> If the hospital’s personnel being so distracted bothered you, please don’t hold it against them. For one, it was a very busy evening. For another, Whistler being there, unnoticed even though he was annoying Buffy by waving his arms around like a maniac and dressed as horribly as we all remember, should tell you something.  
> Well, those are the only things I can think of for now. If you see anything else I should note, please tell me. Other then that, I hope you liked the chapter and thanks for reading!  
> Bye for now! :-)  
> Jess S


	3. A Hellish Place - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, okay, this is going to take longer to transfer than I thought. Apparently the copies I have saved on my computer aren't the complete ones I'd posted. So I have to transfer from TTH to AO3, who's formats don't get along. Meaning a lot of extra proofing, etc. But here's another one.  
> Enjoy! :-D

**Warnings** : None that I can think of, if you see any please let me know.

**A/N** : Many thanks to **_[NeverTooOld](http://www.tthfanfic.org/Author-13825/NeverTooOld.htm) _** for beta-reading this chapter. Enjoy! ^_^

_Original Published: October 2008_

_Revision Completed: 1/8/09_

** First Meeting **

_**Part I in Mathematics & Magic** _

**By Jess S**

**Chapter 2: A Hellish Place**

**Part 2**

**_Angel’s Mansion, Sunnydale, California..._ **

** Buffy's P.O.V. **

_Buffy stared, unable to suppress the horror she could feel rolling around inside her at seeing this place again. Acathla wasn’t there anymore, which was a plus, though it did make her wonder where exactly it was now._

_Looking around, she frowned as she finally noticed something was really off about the mansion._

_She couldn’t hear anything. Smell anything. Sense anything._

_No. She could sense something, but it wasn’t the evil shadow she associated with this place._

_Still, she didn’t hear any sounds from outside. And she didn’t smell anything._

_"That’s because this isn’t real,” a familiar voice told her._

_Buffy spun around, her eyes narrowing into slits as she recognized the Balance Demon, “Whistler! What—”_

_“We need to talk, Slayer.” The Balance Demon cut in quickly, probably not wanting to give her the chance to either come up with more creative threats or follow through on any of the ones she’d already given. He continued even as her frown deepened at the title. “You’re still The Slayer, you know. You always will be. There’s only one way out of that. And The Powers That Be aren’t ready to let you go yet.”_

_"Ah, so we mere mortals only have free choice while it suits ‘them’?”_

_Whistler shrugged and shook his head. “No. You always have a choice, but we can’t really see you sticking to the wrong one. You couldn’t let Charlie die, could you?”_

_Buffy started, backing away a step. “I—”_

_“No, you couldn’t. It goes against your very being. And not just the part of you that’s becoming wholly The Slayer more and more each day. Buffy Anne Summers couldn’t let him die, either. Could you?”_

_“No,” Buffy shook her head slowly, her hot fury fleeing in the face of cold logic. “I guess not.”_

_“Just like you couldn’t let Angelus destroy the world. Kill a few people, sure. Though that went against the grain, too, didn’t it?” Now Whistler backed up several steps as Buffy’s anger returned with a glare. “Hey, I didn’t like that ending any more then you did, you know. Remember, I was the one that converted Angel into a Champion of the Powers. And to be honest I kinda liked the guy. But it was him or the whole world. All of the human race, or at least the ones in this dimension.” He shook his head, honest sadness crossing his face. “No real choice there, huh?”_

_Buffy struggled with it for a moment herself, then she admitted quietly, "No. I guess not," she said, and shook her head again,_ _looking down as she asked. “Why are we here?”_

_“The Powers want you to realize and accept the truth.”_

_“What truth?”_

_“_ _What you are. What you will always be.”_

_“What? A hero?” Buffy shook her head. “I don’t feel like a hero. ‘Course, I guess that’s why we’re called ‘Slayers’, huh? ‘Nother word for ‘killer.’”_

_“Well, I guess you’re not a hero. Not in the sense of ‘perfect savior who can do no wrong,’ but you **are** a savior. A Champion of the human race. Of Earth.” Whistler told her, his voice surprisingly gentle. “One of the ones that knows what’s out there and has to make the hard choices to protect everyone else.”_

_“And how much longer have I got?” Buffy sighed, shaking her head. “How long am I expected to live like this?”_

_“Just as long as you can.” Whistler assured her, adding before she could take any reassurance from that, “Though you might want to keep in mind that the moment you give up and give Evil the temporary victory of defeating you all the burdens you bear will fall onto the shoulders of another teenage girl.”_

_“Like Kendra.”_

_“Like Kendra,” Whistler nodded. “Though the P.T.B like you a lot more than they’ve liked most of the Council-raised Slayers of the last three centuries or so.”_

_“Why?” Buffy snorted, shaking her head again. “‘Cause I’ve lived a little longer?”_

_“Well, yeah. But you’re also good at rallying others to the cause. Sure, most people choose to forget, but all of your friends chose to stick around and fight.”_

_Buffy rolled her eyes, “I’m sure others have chosen to fight long before now. In fact, I know they did. There had to be over a thousand names in the book of demon hunters of the last century that Giles gave me a little while back. And that was just volume one. There were, like, ten more of them.”_

_“True. But usually hunters are loners. Sure they might form small groups, team up from time to time. Those never last long though. Always fall apart when it comes time to make one of the hard decisions. That’s why most of ‘em aren’t Champions.”_

_“It’s not like my friends really trust me that much more. They didn’t even tell me they were trying to restore Angel’s soul before sending me off to kill him.” Buffy sighed. “They were probably afraid I’d hold back if I knew.” Then she shook her head. “They were probably right.”_

_Whistler shrugged, “Yeah, well, who knows. Maybe it would’ve turned out differently. Maybe not. But when it came down to it, you still made the hard choice.”_

_“What? Kill the man I love or let the world die?” Buffy shook her head again, “Like you said, no real ‘choice’ there. Even if I hadn’t been able to drive the sword through him and send him to Hell, Angel probably would have done it to himself once he realized what was happening. And if he hadn’t both of us would have gone to hell or died, with everyone else, anyway.”_

_“Yeah, but you still stuck the sword through him,” Whistler murmured, shaking his head. “Lot of people would’ve let the world end. Lot of people wouldn’t have been able to walk out on their mom either.”_

_“Are you actually trying to make me feel better?”_

_Whistler chuckled, shaking his head. “Something like that.” He paused then, thinking for several moments before he met her eyes again, his gaze so steady that she actually had to struggle a bit to keep herself from looking away. “Charlie Eppes will live. But you gotta ask yourself: how many people—innocents, just like him—are dying every night you don’t patrol in Sunnydale?”_

_“People die when I patrol, too. In Sunnydale and everywhere else. There’s only one of me.” Buffy pointed out, her tone cold. “It’s a flaw in the system. A big one."_

_“_ _Maybe it is,” Whistler agreed with a shrug. “But it’s a necessary one. You gotta remember that everything in this world has to do with balance. Every move the Powers make is either a counter to or countered by the other side.”_

_“Yeah, yeah, and the P.T.B are all about balance.” One eyebrow rising, Buffy continued, honestly curious. “Anyone up there actually interested in ‘Good’? You know, since the other side is just interested in ‘Evil,’ it might make more sense.”_

_Whistler shook his head, “It’s not that simple, Slayer. If the Powers don’t mind the balance, they could give Evil a foothold in this dimension. And then everything could be lost. Every time they make a move that is resoundingly in favor of Good, it gives Evil a free pass to do something of equal proportions.”_

_“And that’s why there’s only one Slayer? Because I only slay a few vampires a night, maybe a few demons a week, when I am patrolling regularly. I really don’t see how that’s supposed to balance out.”_

_“The vampires and demons you come up against are the really dangerous ones. The ones that want to destroy the world, wipe out or enslave humanity. Sure, you get some of the run of the mill vamps, too, but for the most part those are the ones Sired nearby. They’re not the ones that are attracted by the Hellmouth’s innate evil. Most vamps don’t even kill more then a few people a week,” he shook his head at her frown. “It sounds bad, I know, but it’s worked for several millennia already.” Then he smirked, “Though that’s actually another reason the Powers like you. You broke that rule and got away with it. Didn’t change the balance, and they had an extra Champion for a while. They liked that.”_

_Buffy nodded, still frowning. “But what about the other Hellmouths? They need me to stay in Sunnydale, I know, but are the other ones guarded?”_

_The Balance Demon shook his head again, “They don’t need to be. The one in Sunnydale is the only active one right now. The other ones are barely blips on the radar, so weak that most vamps and demons don’t even know about ‘em.” Seeing the look of disbelief on her face, he insisted, “Really. They don’t matter. We half expected one of them to become more potent, more active, when Kendra was Called: but so far we’ve been home free. So yeah, maybe we could Call a few more Slayers, but the Powers aren’t willing to take the chance that doing so will give the F—will give Evil a chance to pull something bigger off. A demon-god from another dimension, an army, something like that.”_

_Buffy thought about it for several moments, then nodded. “So I have to be the only guard of the Hellmouth.”_

_“You have your friends, and your Watcher, too, you know.”_

_Buffy nodded, before flinching as something occurred to her. “What about Charlie?”_

_“What about him?”_

_“He’d be dead if I hadn’t been in L.A.”_

_“Maybe he would,” Whistler agreed, “but then again, any one of the many demon hunters in the city could have handled those vamps. And there are actually a lot of ‘em in L.A. Something about the City of Angels seems to draw them. Though they do miss things.”_

_Buffy looked at him sharply, troubled by the thought, “Like what?”_

_“_ _Like..." Whistler paused, seeming to listen to something for a moment, before he shook his head. “Nope. Can’t tell you that. I can tell you that the Powers don’t need you to head back to the Hellmouth right away, though. You can take a break for now, as long as you remember to monitor your dreams and head back when you are needed.”_

_“And when...” Buffy stopped as the Mansion seemed to fade out of existence, her vision blurring, “What’s—”_

_“You’re waking up.” Whistler told her. “Have fun with Charlie. Remember who you are, and your duties. And don’t forget the Balance, and its consequences.”_

* * *

**_Los Angeles, California – Monday, June 3, 1996 – late afternoon_ **

** Buffy's P.O.V. **

Buffy woke up to the sound of a vaguely familiar, fretful, female voice asking someone, “He’ll be alright, you’re sure?”  

 

As her groggy brain made the connection between the voice and the identity of the woman, Buffy couldn’t help but frown as she realized that Missus Eppes’ presence meant that Buffy herself had actually been asleep for hours. She hadn’t slept more than five hours a night since she’d first become the Slayer! She’d never needed to. Sure, she needed more catnaps when she was healing from a particularly nasty injury, but even then that was more a nap in study hall or maybe a little over an hour after school.  

 

“Yes, Missus Eppes, I’m quite sure,” Doctor Helgen’s voice replied, her tone kind. “The extra blood Miss O’Connor gave him certainly seemed to do the trick. He’s been steadily improving remarkably well since the transfusion.”  

 

“He hasn’t woken up though?” a man’s voice asked worriedly.

 

Probably Charlie’s dad, Alan Eppes, Buffy reasoned.  

 

“No, he hasn’t. But that’s not surprising. He did lose a lot of blood. If he’d lost too much more, he probably wouldn’t have lasted long enough for the transfusion. He also had a mild concussion and I’m told he was in shock before he passed out. The combination would exhaust anyone. His body’s just recuperating. He should wake up some time early this evening, maybe even later this afternoon at the rate he’s been improving.”  

 

After a moment’s pause, Missus Eppes sounded a bit less worried as she asked, “And what about Anne? Is she okay? She’s been asleep this whole time?”  

 

Here the doctor sounded a bit worried as she replied, “Yes, Miss O’Connor will be fine. Though I’m afraid she wasn’t quite truthful when she told us she was in excellent health for the transfusion.” The latter part was added with a bit of irritation in her tone.

 

“She’s sick? Won’t—”  

 

“No,” Doctor Helgen cut Mister Eppes’ worried question off quickly. “Not at all. She doesn’t have any actual illness. In that regard, I think she may be one of the healthiest people I’ve ever seen. From the scan we did of her blood just a few hours ago, it doesn’t look like she’s ever had any major illness.”  

 

“What’s wrong with her, then?” Missus Eppes asked worriedly, making Buffy want to squirm guiltily even as she fought to remain ‘asleep’.

 

“Well, for starters, I don’t think she’s been taking the best care of herself lately. She’s somewhat malnourished, dehydrated and clearly exhausted. So she probably hasn’t been sleeping well or eating healthily.” The doctor paused for a moment before continuing with a sigh. “She was also very insistent that we take as much blood as possible for Charlie, and while that has certainly helped him, it wasn’t good for her.”  

 

“Why?” Mister Eppes asked, now sounding more concerned then frustrated, and again Buffy couldn’t help but feel guilty at the almost-stranger’s distress.  

 

“Well, she distracted us so we took a little more then we’d intended. Not much more, mind you, but if we’d known she wasn’t eating correctly we wouldn’t have taken any in the first place. And apparently something was wrong with the scale we weighed her on before admitting her, as it confirmed her lie about the weight she’d on the form.”  

 

“I didn’t lie!” Buffy protested with an indignant frown, her eyes flying open only to cringe back when the three adults in the room turned towards her.

 

Doctor Helgen shook her head in clear amusement as she moved to Buffy’s bedside to frown down at her. “You did, Miss O’Connor. To be eligible to donate blood you must weight at least one-hundred and ten pounds. You said you weight one-hundred and twenty pounds.”  

“I do.”  

 

“No, you don’t. You only just weight over one-hundred pounds.” The doctor pointed to the clipboard that was hanging next to the IV that was attached to Buffy’s arm. “We checked again a few hours ago. I’m not sure what happened with the scale, as three different and very competent nurses remember checking your weight on it, but that particular scale has been removed.”  

 

“Oh.” Buffy frowned. “Well I didn’t lie. I _thought_ I weighed a hundred and twenty pounds.”  

 

“When was the last time you checked?”  

 

“My-My weight?” Buffy blinked, frowning as she tried to remember. “I don’t know. Um, a month or two ago, I think. Sometime in April?”  

 

“Has your diet changed significantly since then?” the doctor demanded, her pen poised over the clipboard she’d grabbed a moment before.

 

“Um, a-a little, I guess. I moved away from home this summer, and have an apartment downtown now. I work at a diner near there, and we get lunch and dinner free when we’re working.”  

 

“And breakfast?”  

 

“I’m usually not hungry in the morning. I might have a muffin or fruit, sometimes yogurt, but usually I don’t eat too much until lunch.”  

 

“Well,” Dr. Helgen shook her head disapprovingly. “You have to stop that. It’s not healthy. You need to eat breakfast regularly. It’s the most important meal of the day. _And_ you should have quite a bit more variety in your diet. Surely diner food gets awful boring after a while?”  

 

Buffy shrugged, “I guess. I’m not usually that hungry. I just eat whenever the other waitresses grab me to sit down for lunch or dinner with them.”

 

If anything, that seemed to make the doctor’s frown deepen. “Are you unhappy with your appearance, Miss O’Connor?”  

 

“Umm...” Buffy frowned, glancing down at her body and shaking her head. “No?” then with a start she looked back at her body again and demanded, “Hey! Where’s my uniform?”

 

“The nurses thought you’d sleep more comfortably in that,” the doctor replied, her tone mild. “Your clothing, will, of course, be returned to you when you check out.”

 

“I never checked in!” Buffy protested, a bit worried at any background checks they might have run on her for her medical information and such with her as a patient, but hoping that Angel was right and his spell still worked on anyone that used his surname and wanted to remain unnoticed. And absolutely certain she’d never voluntarily changed into the stupid hospital gown.  

 

“Yes, you did. For the transfusion, remember?”

 

“Oh. Yeah.” Buffy frowned, shaking her head. “But I don’t need medical attention. I’m fine.”

 

“You were unconscious for nearly twelve hours, Miss O’Connor. Have you not been sleeping well?”  

 

“Twelve—Is Charlie okay?” Buffy demanded, her eyes flying to the concerned Eppes’, who were standing a little ways away, closer to Charlie’s bed. “I’m so sorry, I—”  

 

“No, no, dear,” Missus Eppes quickly reassured her, coming over to take one of Buffy’s hands in her own. “He’s fine. You saved him.”  

 

“Yes. I dare say you did,” Doctor Helgen conceded with a kind smile, before shaking her head again. “We didn’t need to wake you for anything concerning Doctor Eppes. His health has steadily improved since the transfusion. As you can see for yourself,” she nodded to the other bed, and Missus Eppes moved a little so that Buffy could have a clear view of Charlie.  

 

He was still pale, but looked mostly healthy. He was breathing regularly. There were bandages around his head, neck, right shoulder, and maybe his ribs, though she couldn’t see that clearly because he was covered in blankets. But except for that, and all of the equipment attached to him, he looked like he was sleeping peacefully.  

 

“Th-That’s good.” Buffy murmured, after a moment’s silence. Then her mind suddenly catching on to the significance of ‘unconscious for twelve hours’ after giving blood in the early morning hours, and she frowned as she blurted out, “Wh-What time is it?”  

 

The doctor glanced at the watch on her wrist before replying, “Almost three o’clock,” she moved forward to help Missus Eppes keep Buffy in bed as she struggled to get up. “What _are_ you doing?”  

 

“I have to get to work! I’m already late!”  

 

“No. You need to rest.” The doctor said firmly. “I can call your supervisor myself, if that would make you feel better, but you will certainly not be going to work today. Or any of the next few days, probably.”  

 

Buffy stared at her for a few seconds before shaking her head, her frown deepening as she protested. “What? Why? I feel fine! And I need the money.”  

 

“You need to _rest_ , Miss O’Connor. And eat. By your own admission you’ve unknowingly lost a dangerous amount of weight in a short amount of time due to your poor eating habits.”  

 

“I did not!”  

 

“Anne. Anne, please,” Missus Eppes placed a gentle hand on her cheek, turning Buffy’s panicked face towards her as she continued. “Listen to Doctor Helgen. I can’t thank you enough for saving Charlie, but you need to take care of yourself, too.”  

 

“But I...” Much of her strength seemed to leave her, leaving Buffy’s protests weak. “I need to go to work.”  

 

“Doctor Helgen said she would call your boss for you. And you’ll have a hospital note when you return, so legally they can’t fire you for missing work.”  

 

“But,” Buffy shook her head again. “I-I won’t even be able to pay for whatever bills I have from last night if I miss too much work.”

 

“I’m sure your paren—” Missus Eppes paused, shaking her head decisively. “No. My husband and I will take care of your hospital bills. You’re here because you saved our Charlie, after all.”  

 

“That’s right,” Mister Eppes agreed, stepping up beside his wife to smile down at the pretty blonde. “Don’t worry about any of that, dear.”

 

Buffy sighed, lying back a bit as she offered another half-hearted protest. “I _hate_ hospitals.”  

 

Doctor Helgen laughed, “I know, you told me as much last night, remember?” she asked, a warm smile crossing her face for a moment, before subsiding a bit as she continued. “Unfortunately, I can’t agree to you going home by yourself until you get your weight up to an acceptable level.”  

 

“How long will that take?”  

 

“That really depends on you. On how much you eat and rest. If you want to get out sooner, you need to really concentrate on getting better.”  

 

“Couldn’t I... I don’t know. Go home and come back a few times, for check-ups? I promise I’ll try to eat more. And rest. I’ll rest a lot better at home.”  

 

“I can’t agree to that, Miss O’Connor. At least not until you’ve put a bit of weight on. Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t had some kind of problems before now. Have you?”  

 

“What kind of problems?”  

 

“Dizziness? Fainting spells? Random bouts of weakness?”  

 

‘ _All things Slayer-healing would handle before they became problematic, or even noticeable. Especially since I haven’t been patrolling._ ’ Buffy realized with a frown. “No,” she told the doctor. ‘ _Of course, being the Slayer may be the problem. I haven’t been patrolling or working out, so it hasn’t been directed at anything, like Giles—and Merrick both—said it needs to be. I wonder if that’d actually do something..._ ’ She shook her head slightly, looking up at the doctor again to ask, “I haven’t been exercising as much as I used to. So I’ve probably lost some of the muscle I used to have. Could that be what the weight loss was?’  

 

Doctor Helgen frowned, shaking her head. “Well, it might have been some of it, but highly doubt you’ve lost twenty pounds of muscle in a few weeks, dear. While you _might_ be able to gain that much if you really worked at it, you wouldn’t be able to loose it in just a few weeks, especially without noticing the loss.”  

 

“Oh.” Buffy said, as she thought, ‘ _Well, I really can’t ask her about my mystical powers._ ’ She sighed, shaking her head again. “Couldn’t you send me home with a list of meal requirements a-and maybe a schedule, or something like that? I really don’t want to stay here.”  

 

Before the doctor could respond, Missus Eppes cut in. “If I may, doctor, could Anne come home with us when Charlie’s discharged?”

 

Doctor Helgen paused for a long moment, before nodding. “That might work better. If you’re comfortable with it, Miss O’Connor. I don’t like the idea of you going home by yourself where you could pass out or something similar without anyone noticing. And I’m sure that Mister and Missus Eppes could help you with your diet.”  

 

“Yes, we could!” Mister Eppes confirmed with a wide smile. “My Maggie makes some of the best family meals you’ll find anywhere!” he told them, shrugging at the amused look his wife shot him. “And I make some mean ribeyes, myself.”  

 

“Alan,” Missus Eppes shook her head with a fond smile, before nodding to the doctor. “If you gave us some kind of guideline I’m sure we could work it out.” She then turned to Buffy again. “Would that be all right with you, Anne?”  

 

Buffy looked around at the three watching adults uncertainly, shrugging as she replied, “I-I wouldn’t want to impose.”  

 

“It wouldn’t be an imposition at all, dear,” Missus Eppes assured her. “We have a guest room back at the house. Two, actually, since our eldest moved out. And we have plenty of room in the house. Actually,” she smiled warmly at Buffy, “I think it’d be rather fun. I can’t remember the last time I had another girl living with me for an extended period of time. Not since my roommate in college, at least.”  

 

“What, those long weekends skiing or fishing with them don’t count?” Mister Eppes asked his wife with a raised eyebrow, his shaking head and smile telling them that he was joking even as he turned his smile towards Buffy. “But it would be nice. It’d give us some idea of what it might be like to have a daughter, too.”  

 

“There is that,” Missus Eppes laughed, smiling brightly as she raised an eyebrow at Buffy.  “Would that be alright with you, dear?”  

 

“Well, um. O-Okay.” Buffy agreed, deciding that there really wasn’t any way the Council could trace her to the Eppes anyway.

 

At least she didn’t think they kept track of hospital records for vampire attacks. Giles mostly seemed to just watch the obituaries for the most part. And since Charlie had already been targeted by vampires in an area that didn’t see many of them—something she probably should have questioned Whistler about—she would like to keep an eye on him for a little while anyway. Just to make sure he hadn’t recently become a vampire or demon magnet, like Xander.

 

“If it’s okay with you. A-And Charlie. If it’s okay with your whole family.”   

Missus Eppes laughed softly, the merry sound momentarily filling the small room with warmth as she shook her head. “I’m sure Charlie won’t mind at all, dear. And Donnie won’t mind either, if he does come to visit for a bit.” She paused, frowning slightly as she asked. “Did you get a hold of him before? I tried his office after our plane landed, but they said he was out in the field and wouldn’t available for some time.”  

 

Buffy shook her head, frowning. “No. I left him a voicemail but he didn’t call...” she stopped abruptly as she remembered just how long she’d been asleep and her eyes flew to the doctor. “He didn’t call, did he?”   

 

Doctor Helgen shook her head, “I don’t think so, dear. And if he’d called the hospital I would’ve been notified. And the nurses moved your—or was it Doctor Eppes’?—cell phone to their monitoring station, just in case.” At the expectant looks she was still receiving from all three of the conscious people in the room, she shook her head. “I’ll have the nurses bring it back, of course, but I doubt he called. As I said before, I would have been notified.”  

 

“Thank you, doctor,” Missus Eppes nodded, before shaking her head and smiling at the concerned expression on Buffy’s face. “Oh well, no harm done. I’m sure we’ll get a call from him soon enough, he’ll want to know how Charlie’s doing.” She shook her head again, sighing. “I just didn’t want to declare a family emergency and have him pulled from an active case.”  

 

“He wouldn’t have minded, dear,” Mister Eppes told her, his tone gentle but firm.  

 

His wife nodded, “I know. But he’s so dedicated to his work that I know he wouldn’t like dropping everything—”  

 

“He would, for his brother.” Mister Eppes cut in again, his face looking a little harder than before. “We raised him well enough to expect that, at least.”  

 

“I-I think you must have done a pretty good job,” Buffy cut in, a little uncomfortable at the tension she could feel coming from the pair.

 

That was another Slayer-power that had been growing over the last few months. After the possession-incident with Angelus and all of the events surrounding Angel and Angelus, it was kind of hard not to notice. Though her own pain had mostly kept the emotions of others at bay.

 

She shrugged when the three adults looked at her again, and shook her head slightly to clear it. “I-I mean, he’s a federal agent, right? That’s a pretty self-sacrificing job.”

 

Sure, most of the cops in Sunnydale seemed to be idiots, but they couldn’t all be like that, right?  

 

“It is,” Doctor Helgen agreed, her voice warm and gentle even as both of the Eppes’ seemed to start, apparently having forgotten her presence by the door. “I’ve met a number of police officers and federal agents while working as a doctor. They’re usually very dedicated, very intense individuals.” At the slightly skeptical look she could read on Mister Eppes’ face she shrugged. “I’m not saying I liked all of them, they can be awful pushy, too. But their jobs are just as important as mine, if not more so. While I can only struggle to help victims of all kinds of attacks heal, they try to prevent the victimization in the first place and make sure the people responsible are put away.”  

 

“Yes, they do,” Missus Eppes agreed softly, patting Buffy’s hand as if she could feel the Slayer’s discomfort at being caught in the middle of this conversation. “Alan and I just worry about him, that’s all.” Then shooting her husband a wry look, she added. “And Alan has some bad memories from the seventies.”  

 

“Don’t we all?” Doctor Helgen shook her head, and a heavy silence seemed to hang around the three adults before Buffy decided to break it.

 

“You’re sure Charlie’s all right, though?” the teenager asked quietly, glancing towards him again. “Why hasn’t he woken up yet?”  

 

“His body’s still recuperating, dear. I’m sure he’ll be awake soon. You don’t mind staying in the hospital till he does?”  

 

“No. No, I can wait here for him,” Buffy agreed quickly, pointedly ignoring the amused look in the doctor’s eyes. Though a part of her wasn’t sure it was the best idea for her to keep herself cooped up here, another part of her _really_ didn’t want to leave.  

 

“Good, then,” Doctor Helgen smiled as she stepped closer to the door, turning slightly as if to leave before telling them, “I’ll have the nurses bring some lunch trays up and I’ll be back to check on you and Charlie in an hour or two. Call for a nurse if he wakes sooner, and they’ll page me, okay?” At their nods she raised an eyebrow and asked, “Would you like some lunch as well, Missus Eppes? Mister Eppes?”

 

“We’d love some, thank you,” Missus Eppes replied, shooting her husband a look that silenced him when it looked like he might protested.

Of course, from what she remembered hospital food in Sunnydale tasting like Buffy really couldn’t blame him. She did hope it was better here, though. Otherwise the doctor might never let her leave!   Then the doctor left, almost closing the door behind her but leaving it slightly ajar for the nurses.

 

Buffy waited a moment, then murmured quietly, “I’m sorry.”  

 

Missus Eppes frowned, “For what, dear? About your weight? That’s hardly—”  

 

“No,” Buffy shook her head, blushing. “I didn’t know about that. I-I meant about having to take care of me and for lying about-about me being Charlie’s girlfriend.”  

 

Both Eppes stared at her for a moment, before bursting out laughing.  

 

In retrospect, she’d suppose it had been a strange thing to apologize for when she’d just saved their son’s life, twice. But she’d saved so many people before him, and couldn’t remember receiving a ‘thank you’ from any of them. Even Willow and Xander never thanked her.

 

The first time she’d saved Willow the redhead had been too upset about their friend, Jessie, and finding out about the supernatural or else she probably would have said ‘thank you’ at least once. Xander, on the other hand, seemed to follow Giles line of thinking, which the P.T.B and Whistler also shared: she was The Slayer, it was her job. And really it was. So the idea that they wouldn’t mind the fib and that they’d _want_ to repay her somehow kind of baffled her.  

 

After a few moments of silence, with the elder Eppes catching their breath after laughing so hard, Buffy remembered another thing that had been mentioned earlier. “Wait—Charlie’s only nineteen, isn’t he?”  

 

“Yes, dear,” Missus Eppes replied, a small smile on her face as she continued before Buffy could ask the question she saw coming. “And yes, he really is a doctor. Not a medical doctor, mind you. He has a doctorate in applied mathematics.”  

 

“So he’s, like, a college professor or—”  

 

“He hopes to become one,” Mister Eppes cut in, smiling softly. “He actually just got his doctorate a few weeks ago,” the older man shook his head ruefully. “Now he’s thinking about getting a _second_ doctorate.”  

 

Buffy blinked, “Why?”  

 

“You see?” Mister Eppes nodded towards her, his eyes on his wife. “Donnie and I aren’t the only ones that think that’s crazy.”  

 

Missus Eppes rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she replied. “Charlie likes to learn, dear. Loves it really.” She sighed as she continued. “And, really, academia is the only world he knows and is comfortable in. So it doesn’t surprise me at all that he wants to either get a job in it or remain a student himself. In fact, even he gets the job offer he’s hoping for, I’m pretty sure he’ll keep taking classes to work towards another doctorate.”  

 

“You’re probably right,” Mister Eppes agreed with a nod, sighing as his eyes shot towards his son for a moment, before he shook his head.

 

“I-I thought it took _years_ to get that. To become a doctor, I mean,” Buffy shook her head in confusion as both adults looked at her. “And that’s after regular college, isn’t it?”  

 

“Normally, yes,” Missus Eppes confirmed, her voice warm and understanding as she explained. “But Charlie went through the regular school system very quickly. We hired special tutors for him until he was eight, though he went to regular elementary school to interact with his peers. Then when he was nine, he skipped several grades and started high school. He graduated when he was thirteen, the same day as his older brother. Then he went to Princeton, and he finished his doctorate in applied mathematics this year.”  

 

Buffy glanced at Charlie again, trying not to stare and pointedly turning back towards his proud parents, “Wow, that’s—wow. So he’s a genius?”

 

Both Eppes laughed, and Mister Eppes nodded. “To put it mildly, yes. Actually a lot of geniuses find him overwhelming.”  

 

The three chatted for a while after that, Buffy reluctantly forcing herself to eat the whole meal that one of the nurses set before her under Missus Eppes’ watchful eyes as they talked about Los Angeles, Charlie’s schooling, Buffy’s—very light—background, and so on. Buffy made a continual effort to redirect the conversation to the Eppes family whenever possible, not wanting to lie to them but not willing to entire tell the truth about herself either. A part of her wished she wasn’t stuck here, as one, she hated hospitals in general, and two, she wasn’t used to spending time with victims and their families after saving them. But another part of her, after several weeks on her own, drifting from day to day in mindless nothingness found the pleasant small talk nice and she slowly started to find herself rather pleased with the idea of staying with this nice family instead of going home to her rundown, cold and lonely apartment.  

* * *

**_Unknown..._ **

**Charlie's P.O.V.**

_Charlie couldn’t quite grasp where he was._

_Wherever it was though, it was very white, as that was really the only thing he could see: bright, white light. And gravity didn’t seemed to have any existence here, because he felt like he was floating, except in air instead of water, as his feet had no purchase on the ground._

_Maybe he’d somehow gone to outer space? That was the only place he could think of where the lack of gravity feeling would make sense._

_But the last place he remembered being was home._

_That’s right._

_He was working on a math problem._

_And three girls interrupted him. Knocked on the front door around one o’clock in the morning. They were lost and wanted to use the phone. They looked harmless, so he invited them in._

_...And then they became monsters. Monsters with inescapable grips and fangs._

_Fear and pain in the shadows._

_Then light, as he suddenly found himself falling free._

_The pain of fangs in his neck, sucking out blood gone, the air around him polluted by dust._

_An angel, he’d thought. With golden hair and emerald eyes. “I’ll be right back,” she’d said._

_And she came back with flashing lights and chaos. He could barely see her in the darkness, but he knew the small, warm hand that was holding his in a gentle, firm grip was hers. He thought the faint smell of roses his nose was catching might be her perfume._

_That scent and that touch were enough reassurance for his mind to relax, for his eyes to cold and rest._

_And now he was here._

_But where was ‘here’?_

_He really hoped this wasn’t heaven._

_He wasn’t ready to be dead yet: he still had too much to do with his life._

_And he didn’t want to leave his Mom or Dad._

_Or Donnie, he wanted to repair his relationship with Donnie. A relationship that could barely be called that since he’d started high school with him._

_Plus an eternity of white light and weightlessness would just be boring. Boring enough to count as some level of Hell, he’d think. And he didn’t think he’d done anything in his life to merit being sent there._

_“No you haven’t,” an unfamiliar male voice told him, and if Charlie had been standing—or had any real awareness of his physical body beyond the fact that it was weightless and touching nothing—he would have jumped._

_He tried to look around. But again, all he saw was bright, white light._

_“Sorry. I’m not really allowed in your head. Even talking to you like this is kinda pushing it. Just thought you might like to know that you can wake up now.” The unfamiliar voice told him, before insisting, “Really! That’s all I’m telling him! And he really can wake up now.”_

_"Excuse me?” Charlie asked, confused._

_“Sorry again, I, uh, I wasn’t talking to you that time. I was talking to your—well, not you. Do you think you could try waking up?”_

_“How do I do that?”_

_“Tell your over-protective and, uh, newly-empowered subconscious that you want to.”_

_“What?”_

_“Do you want to wake up anytime soon?”_

_“Yes, but—” Charlie paused, confused as a sinking feeling settled in his stomach and the white light started to fade. “What’s—”_

_“Good, good. You’re waking up now. So I should go before your—uh, friend, attacks me. Take care of her, alright?”_

_Charlie tried to shake his head even as the light completely disappeared and something inside him decide the strange voice was gone. “Take care of who?”_  

* * *

**_Los Angeles, California – Monday, June 3, 1996 – early evening..._ **

**Buffy's P.O.V.**

Buffy was the first to notice when Charlie started to wake up a little after six o’clock that evening.

She’d watched as his parents fussed over him, shaking her head in sympathy as she could sense just how confused he was at how well acquainted his parents seemed to be with his roommate. But then again, he was also pretty confused by the fact that they were there at all, as they’d been in Paris the last time he’d been awake. And—even after nearly almost fifteen hours of unconsciousness—he was still absolutely exhausted. 

 

She frowned in concern when he finally, really, looked at her and froze, staring. “Is-Is something wrong?”  

 

“You—the angel?” Charlie murmured quietly, starting when his mother put a gentle, concerned hand on his shoulder even as Buffy fought back the onslaught of emotion the word ‘Angel’ wrought inside her mind.  

 

“What was that, sweetheart?” Missus Eppes—who wanted to be called ‘Maggie’—asked him.  

 

“I-I,” Charlie took a deep breath before continuing. “I remember seeing you. When I was lying there. I-I thought you were an angel,” he told her with a small smile, his blush matching Buffy’s as both his parents chuckled. After their warm chuckles died down he met her gaze again, and the warmth in his chocolate-brown eyes made her breath catch. “Thank you.”  

 

Buffy blinked at him for a moment, shaking her head. “I-I didn’t—”  

 

“Thank you for saving me. A-And for being there,” he smiled brightly at her, making her breath catch again. “You were holding my hand, weren’t you?”  

 

“Y-Yeah,” Buffy nodded a bit unsurely.  

 

“Thank you.” His smile suddenly faded as his eyes flew over her form, which was mostly hidden by the blankets the hospital staff had encased her in. “Wait. W-What happened to you? Did they hurt you?”  

 

“No! No,” Buffy shook her head quickly. “I’m fine. I guess the shock just caught up with me after I gave blood and I was out of it a little longer then they liked, so now they’re holding me prisoner. Except without bars and shackles and—yeah.”  

 

“Gave blood?” Charlie tilted his head to the side slightly, his eyes trailing to the bandage on his arm and then to the one on hers. “You gave me blood?” he frowned, “Why didn’t the hospital—”  

 

“The hospital apparently ran out of your blood type,” Mister Eppes—who Buffy was supposed to call ‘Alan’—told his son, as he gave Buffy a warm smile. “So Annie here, who happens to be your type, volunteered.”  

 

“She did,” Mrs. Eppes confirmed, a warm smile on her face as well. “The doctor said it probably saved your life. Which we can’t thank you enough for, dear.”  

 

Buffy looked down, blushing as she mumbled, “I-I didn’t do that much.”  

 

“Yes. You did. You saved our Charlie’s life twice last night, Annie,” Mr. Eppes told her with a frown, gently waving a admonishing finger at her. “So I don’t want to hear even one word of modesty pass your lips for at least a week, all right? If you must be modest, just say ‘your welcome’ and nod a lot.”  

 

Charlie was chuckling at his father’s demands, but he frowned as his brain caught part of what he’d said. “A week?” he looked at Buffy again. “You’re going to be here for a week. What—”  

 

“No,” Missus Eppes cut in, shaking her head slowly from side to said and drawing his attention to where she sat in between the two beds. Her husband had drawn a chair up to the end of Charlie’s bed, but she’d wanted to be closer to both of them, which probably meant she had to move every time a nurse wanted to check anything but that wasn’t the sort of thing that seemed to faze Margaret Eppes. “Annie will be coming home with us for a bit. Apparently she hasn’t been eating as much as she should, so giving blood wasn’t the best of ideas. But we’ll have her fixed up in not time.”  

 

“Uh—um. Okay,” Charlie nodded, then smiled brightly at Buffy again. “Well, I guess that means we’ll be seeing a lot of each other for a while, won’t we?” he glanced down, biting his lip for a second before glancing up again and adding. “I’m glad.”  

 

Buffy met his eyes for a few moments, before nodding slightly. “Me too.”    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Old A/N Thanks to everyone who’s reviewed so far. I’m glad you like the story. To the reviewers who noted earlier that the blood would be measured in pints not liters, I did—finally—change that, just to be realistic. The word still makes me think of the scene in the Fellowship of the Ring where Merry gets a pint of beer, but I guess realism really is more important. Once again, thank you for pointing out the errors. I hope everyone liked the scenes I added, as well as some of the revisions. I’m hoping Whistler’s presence, waving away problems, makes some of the hospital’s errors a little more believable. Hey, if human beings naturally ignore the supernatural—as the Buffy-verse suggests—it shouldn’t be that much of a stretch that with a representative of the Powers there they wouldn’t be likely to ignore even more. Anyway, I hope everyone liked it.  
> Bye for now! ^_^  
> ~ Jess S  

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I'd love to hear what you think, so please comment!  
> This part of the series won’t be that long. Mostly just covering how Buffy and Charlie met, which if you didn’t catch it, takes place in between Buffy Seasons 2 and 3 and years before NUMB3RS Season 1. The series will probably go through the later seasons of Buffy and a bit after that until the earlier seasons of NUMB3RS, but the timeline for it will be pretty irregular as I’m not turning Charlie into a Scooby and Buffy has to go back to being the Slayer. I’m gonna make a lot of connections and probably hint at a possible relationship for a while. Who knows, they might even actually date on and off. Or not. Will see where my muse goes.  
> Either way, I hope you enjoy it and would love some helpful comments.  
> Bye for now!  
> Jess S


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